Wednesday, March 30, 2011

FearMy mom has been dealing with a rather perplexing medical condition for the last year. First it was nothing to be concerned about, then it was definitely cancer,then it was maybe cancer, then it was definitely not cancer, then back to maybe cancer, then definitely not cancer again and at this point, the doctors involved have finally admitted that they have no clue what it is. My mom and our family have been dealing with the situation in our typical manner which is to not get too freaked out about it and instead, plan for the worst while expecting the best. However, I talked to my mom tonight as she told me about yet another doctor that she was going to see next week and for the first time, I heard fear in her voice regarding this issue.

Now that fear might mean that she was not comfortable with our plan for the worst or it could mean that she was no longer expecting the best or it could mean she was afraid of dying or it could be something that I haven't thought of yet. But there's a reason there and it troubles me that she's afraid and I don't know why. I have watched my mother face many a fear in the past 50 years, but it was always pretty evident what was causing the fear. This time, I'm not sure and she's not willing to talk about it. And so here I am, troubled about something that I can do nothing about at the moment. All I can do is let it go for now, try to get some sleep and look at it again tomorrow.

Fire!Yesterday morning the fire alarm went off at work and there were not any procedures in place to handle such an event. In a perfect world, that would have been thought of before we moved in to the building, but it's not a perfect world. Despite the lack of planning, everyone evacuated in an orderly manner via the main entrance. Had there actually been flames and smoke in the immediate area then I'd be telling a different story since using the main entrance involved walking a very long way through the building before getting outside. If there is a next time, I'll be going out via the fire exit. Duh!

It turned out to be just a small electrical fire in the elevator shaft and after standing in the parking lot for about an hour or so, the fire department gave the all clear and we returned to work. Of course, this means the elevator is now out of service and I'm not looking forward to the pain in my knees from walking up those stairs every day. A ground floor location has long been a requirement of mine for living quarters, but I never really thought much about it being a requirement for a job. I'd have to add that to my list of things needed for the "perfect" job.

Monday, March 28, 2011

UpdateIt's been a while since I posted, but the change to Daylight Saving Time really kicked my ass this year. It came about right at the start of the busy season at work, spring allergies and the usual spring arthritis flares so it's not so surprising that I have done very little in the evenings after work or on the weekends these last two weeks. I have not read books, blogged, studied for an exam I plan to take later this year, played computer games, watched movies, worked on my jigsaw puzzle or done anything other than the minimum amount of housework and following the news a bit on the disasters in Japan. Instead, I have been enjoying the warm evenings, visiting with my neighbors and getting as much rest as possible. It's taken a full two weeks, but I think I may have finally recovered from the time change because this is the first morning that I've felt like touching the computer before heading to work. I'm hoping this is a sign that I'll have a little bit more energy at the end of the day.

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

IntermissionMomentarily interrupting the Saturday story to post that I've decided it's Spring-enough to put out a hanging basket of petunias. We are not yet past the average last frost date, but a hanging basket can always be brought indoors if we get a late freeze. I'll need to wait a bit longer to do my banana tree in a big pot idea. I have no idea if you can successfully grow a banana tree in a big pot, but I figure I'll give it a try. With luck, come August, perhaps I can sit in the shade of my banana tree with a cold beer and pretend I'm on vacation in some exotic tropical location.

My friend LT stopped by yesterday and hooked me up with a few things to improve my wireless connection. It's not yet improved to the point where I can get a connection every time I want one, nor can it hang onto that connection for very long, but I can definitely get a connection some of the time and usually long enough to hammer out a short post or email. And that's a big improvement!